Diversity and inclusion questions to ask senior leaders

As Canada’s largest employer, the federal public service has an obligation to ensure that its employees are representative of the diverse people it serves.

The Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion tabled research and recommendations to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the Canadian government.

The Task Force reported that in successful public sector organizations, diversity and inclusion:

• leverages a range of perspectives needed to address today’s complex challenges
• spurs innovation
• increases productivity
• creates a healthy, respectful workplace

Conversely, findings also indicated that although there are signs of growing momentum to support diversity and inclusion across the public service, there remain chronic and systemic challenges that inhibit greater headway. Recruitment, professional development, career progression and leadership diversity are a few examples with varying degrees of success.

While implementation is every public servants responsibility, a greater onus falls to HR people and senior leadership. Actions informed by data, effective benchmarks, measurement, evaluation and feedback across the public service, the Task Force noted, are critical to making progress.

TalentMap research shows government departments, agencies, and crown corporations of all sizes move through phases of maturity on the diversity and inclusion spectrum, from where there’s little buy-in or leadership awareness through to compliance, strategic acceptance and integration, up to those who lead best practices.

Finding out what diversity and inclusion means to employees in the context of the workplace is best understood by asking the right questions:

1. Do you feel accepted, comfortable and safe within your organization?
2. Are diverse identities, ideas and ways of thinking and working valued in your organization?
3. Does your organization’s workforce reflect the diversity of the community?
4. Does your organization have a clear definition of what is considered a respectful workplace?
5. Overall does your workplace feel respectful?

Feedback about diversity and inclusion in the context of the workplace is best solicited through custom employee engagement surveys.

Compiling data, evaluating those insights, drawing up priority action plans and measuring results is best achieved by working with an employee engagement survey partner, like TalentMap, who offers the expertise and depth of public sector knowledge to guide and support your efforts.

As the Task Force report states in its conclusion:

“Diversity and inclusion are not options. They are imperative to the success of the public service in its ability to foster a healthy and productive workforce that can provide the best and most effective programs, policies and services to the people of Canada. It’s every public service employee’s task to help effect this transformation.”

I support the idea that is it is essential that an organization accurately reflects and represents the larger society in which it exists and operates. Besides this I strongly believe that there are very good reasons to engage people with different backgrounds and celebrate heterogeneity in your organisation. The richness of experiences, perspectives, and consequently, ideas are a source for innovative solutions. Having people around who see the world differently and come up with diverse solutions to problems, can unleash a tremendous wellspring of creativity within your organisation.

From these points of view, equality, diversity and inclusion are more or less no-brainers.

It is important to understand that equality, diversity and inclusion go beyond just visible factors. They should be embodied in the very structure and strategy of your organisation and business, and in the everyday decisions.

Unfortunately, many organizations around the world are still struggling to get this done. I feel that this has to do with a lack of understanding of what it means to develop and maintain a culture that embraces differences. In view of this I’ve developed a list of 50 questions that could help to get a better idea of where your organisation presently is and where it should be going ....

There probably could be many more or fewer questions and feel free to answer them in a different order. Ultimately, the point of asking questions is to start a discussion and get people to sharpen or even dare to question their own (biased?) opinions.

 50 Questions on the road to equality, diversity and inclusion

1.      What is diversity in an organisation about and what is it about in your organisation?

2.      What is an inclusive organisation about and what is it about in your organisation?

3.      What is equality in an organisation about and what it is about in your organisation?

4.      How do you feel that these three themes are connected?

5.      What is the organization’s status in terms of diversity and inclusion? How divers and inclusive do you feel that your organisation is?

6.      How does your organisation ensure equal opportunities and equal treatment of people?

7.      What makes a workforce a diverse one?

8.      How diverse do you feel that your workforce is?

9.      How divers is your organisation’s customer & supplier base?

10.  How is diversity, equality and inclusiveness reflected in the present way of doing business in your organisation?

11.  How does diversity of the product and/or services portfolio play a role in the strategy of the organisation?

12.  How does your organization cultivate a culture that values differences and/or is the focus on uniformity? Please explain.

13.  How much attention is paid to corporate communications to avoid biased wording in any statement of the company? 

14.  Does your organisation clearly communicate to its stakeholders about what they can expect about equality, diversity and inclusion and also about holding stakeholders accountable if they fall short?

 15.  How much does your organization emphasize diversity, equality and diversity as a strategy to promote compliance with legal requirements and/or corporate values?

16.  Why should or shouldn’t your organisation need to express more commitment to diversity, equality and inclusiveness? 

17.  What should the company do with regards to setting goals in the field of diversity, equality and inclusion?

18.  Does your organisation publicly expresses and communicates goals and strategies for diversity, equality and inclusion?

19.  Is there an established system for reporting internally, and externally the status of diversity and inclusiveness?

20.  Do you believe that your organization should always inform its stakeholders about how diverse and inclusive the employees, management, and leadership teams are?

21.  Does your organization’s workforce reflect the diversity of the stakeholders communities it’s part of?

22.  Why should or shouldn’t the management team become more diverse?

23.  Why should or shouldn’t your organisation reflect the diversity of it’s customer and supplier base?

24.  What do HR data tell you about diversity and inclusion in the organisation?

25.  What kind of data do you have in terms of gender, cultural roots, nationalities, age/demographics, sexual orientation, education, disabilities, etc. ...... ) 

26.  How do your company values express a commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion?

27.  How do you notice that your organisation encourages a free and open expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs.

28.  Does your organization always takes strict action against any kind of intolerance towards people?

29.  Does the organisation tolerate ethnic and gender-based jokes?

30.  Do you feel that people can voice an opposing view or argument without fear or consequences?

31.  Who is/are accountable when it comes to improving diversity and becoming a more inclusive organisation?

32.  Who is/are presently committed to take action to improve diversity and inclusion and why?

33.  Do you believe that there are a kind of diversity and inclusion ambassadors in your organisation? Who?

34.  What is the position of the promoters of diversity in the company? What influence do they have?

35.  Why should or shouldn’t diversity and inclusion be a functional and/or management and/or collaborative responsibility?

36.  How does the management style reflect understanding of what diversity and inclusion is about?

37.  Should or shouldn’t managers demonstrate a commitment to embrace diversity and inclusion in all their decisions? Why?

38.  What is diversity, equality and inclusion about in HR?

39.  How will the culture need to change to be more equal, diverse and inclusive? What should require more attention by whom? Why?

40.  What could management do to make the organisation more diverse and inclusive?

41.  What do you feel should be the main driver for establishing a diverse an inclusive culture? Is it about personal values and believes and/or a business concern/problem and/or compliance matters and/or .....?

42.  How do present HR strategy, policies & processes support diversity and inclusiveness? Where is it explicitly mentioned and where implicit?

43.  What kind of training does the organisation offer in the field of diversity and inclusion?

44.  Does the organisation use survey’s to get a better idea about the experience of stakeholders when it comes to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion?

45.  What could be the first steps to get to a next level in becoming an inclusive organisation?

46.  How could the organisation’s recruiting efforts support diversity and inclusiveness?

47.  What are the hiring priorities in the coming year with respect to building a more diverse workforce?

48.  What are the realities of the labour markets where you are hiring? How about demand and supply to support a recruitment strategy that aims to build a diverse workforce?

49.  When it comes to hiring new employees is the focus on cultural fit or cultural fitness?

50.  Which criteria will be used to measure success in building a diverse workforce?

 Etc.

 Success!

PS feel free to share your questions in the comments to improve this list!

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